I almost skipped my #ThursdayWriteUp two weeks ago because I had spent much of the week on things other than writing. I did spend some of that time writing, but mostly things other than my “official” projects. A little poetry, a few songs and some less than creative but necessary scribbling and figuring to keep my life in balance outside of the artistic realm.

Well, during my little break I spent some time thinking about my normal writing schedule and realized that most of the things that were distracting me were not things like finances, yard work, home repairs or the desire to take some “me time”.

Care to take a guess what took first place in that contest?

Time’s up.

And the winner is: My writing schedule.

Okay, probably not the schedule itself, but that it was a little vague and lacked structure where priority and limits were concerned. I’m still working on it but, to give you an idea of how it’s worked for me that last couple of weeks, here’s a “before & after” example:

BEFORE:

Wake up every day before dawn and turn on laptop.

Check for new e-mail, social media interactions, news/weather reports, pictures of animals with funny sayings.

Visually scan my office for the scattered scraps of paper and printouts from the day before.

Sigh.

And the rest of the day is spent trying to find writing time between research, organizing, networking, outlining (even though I’m more of a “pantser”), re-organizing, brainstorming and, of course, feeding the cat.

AFTER:

Wake up every day before dawn and turn on laptop.

Check for new e-mail, social media interactions, news/weather reports, pictures of animals with funny sayings. (just because I’m getting organized doesn’t mean I can’t start each day with pointless happy stuff!)

Visually scan my office and smile at the neat little stack of notes and printouts from the day before.

Turn off my network card.

Write until the sun comes up.

Take a break to sit on the porch and watch the sun come up.

Write

Feed the cat

Write

For the last bit of the day, do some research for the next day, check for new email, social media interactions and phone messages.

I know it’s not a real tight structure, but it seems to be working for me so far. I’ve changed my priorities in a few places and created a couple of rules to keep me focused during my writing time.

No internet while writing.

Only take notes (pad and paper) on what to research while writing until “reasearch time” arrives at the end of the day.

By only allowing myself to do research at the END of the day, I keep myself from being sucked into that infamous “black hole” that loves to eat up writing time.

That’s what I’ve been working on the last couple of weeks. Oh! And I’ve also written 7-8k words between both active fiction projects, my non-fiction projects and a new one that I’m keeping a secret for now. 😉

What was your week like?

Let me know in the comment section below and, if you’re on Twitter, every week at the #ThursdayWriteUp. I’d love to hear from you!

They’re making a HUGE difference. It’s really boiled down to time management for me. It’s just too easy to get wrapped up in a task and let it drag on, especially when it’s for something you’re excited about!

As much as I want to take the pat on the back for the word count this week, that’s actually my TWO week count (give or take). I’ve made plenty of progress with those projects other than word count in that time so, all things considered, the half-sized word count per week doesn’t bother me much for now. 😉